Casino Carnival Card Game and Electronic Version Thereof

ABSTRACT

A method of playing a game is disclosed which includes playing with a single deck of 52 cards and a game board. The method is initiated by a player placing a wager on an ante area of the board. A dealer then hands out cards in a pre-determined face up/face down arrangement allowing the players to bet as additional cards are placed. After all cards are dealt and a player places a wager or folds, the dealer turns up a last card and pays the player if the player&#39;s hand is higher. If the player&#39;s hand is lower, the dealer takes the money. There is a bonus area and a side bet area for a player to place bets in another aspect of the game, in accordance with a bonus table and side bet table through which a player can win irrespective of winning or losing to the dealer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a two element casino carnival card game whichcombines either a War element or a Three Card Poker element with afive-card poker hand that uses community cards available on a playingsurface which gives a player the opportunity to either maximize hiswinnings or minimize his losses based on the rules of the game.

BACKGROUND

There currently exist several casino games, including Texas Hold'em,Flop Poker, Four Card Poker and others. While these games are known,there is still a need and a desire for additional variations of knowngames to enhance the pleasure of players, and increase the profits ofcasinos and game development companies.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,827 is illustrative of one of those types of games.The card game uses one or more standard decks of playing cards.Participants include a dealer and up to seven players, wherein eachplayer is playing his hand against the dealer's hand. During play, theplayers pit the game value of their cards against the game value of thedealer's cards. Each player is given an opportunity to divide his dealtholding into two new holdings, and each of the resulting new holdings ispitted independently against corresponding holdings of the dealer. Inorder to provide variations, the value of the cards may be varied byvarying the number of wagering steps in the hand and the value of tokenswagered. The option to divide the holding and to pursue a stake withfewer than the originally dealt cards, and the option to utilizeanother's cards provide different options to the players of the game.Notwithstanding these variations, the game described therein is still asimple poker game with alternative features to attempt to increaseinterest.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,331,580 discloses a card game to be played by at leastone player and a dealer using at least one standard deck of 52 cards.The card game described therein is played by a player first placing abet in a betting spot using chips. The dealer deals a predeterminednumber of cards to each player face down onto an area on the table,designated for that player, and afterwards deals the same number ofcards to another area on the table called a dealer's pot. Play in aseries includes the dealer turning up a player top card and turning upthe dealer's top card where the high card wins at even odds ofone-to-one. Equal cards are a draw or push and neither wins except if aplayer has a deuce in which case the player's deuce loses at one-to-oneodds. A player's ace wins at odds of three-to-two. After one play, aplayer may place a new bet before cards are next turned over. Whileattempting to provide an innovative and different type of game, the gamedescribed therein the noted U.S. patent is very simple and one soon maytire of playing it after a short amount of time.

U.S. Patent Publication 2010/0123288 describes a card game playedbetween a dealer and one or more players. Community cards are dealt and,in succession, compared to each player's card according to the rules ofWar. Wagers can be placed and resolved against each of the rounds.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,313,366 discloses a card game played on an electronicgaming machine between a game machine/dealer and one or more players.Each player is dealt one card. Three community cards (flop cards) aredealt and, in succession compared to each player's card, according tothe rules of War. A fourth community card (turn card) is revealed, alongwith a single dealer card. The player's final hand must outrank thedealer's final hand and achieve at least a preset poker ranking in orderto win a mandatory wager. Other than for the concept of describing anelectronic implementation of a card game, this patent merely teaches aconventional War game implementation not much different from existingcasino games and adds nothing to the state of the art.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the problem with theprior art's games are overcome by providing a War-like casino poker gameplayed with a standard 52-card deck which pits a player against thehouse or bank. The game also includes the option of having side bets inwhich the player is paid in accordance with predetermined tablesirrespective of whether the player wins or loses against the dealer.This combination of the invention gives a player the opportunity toeither maximize his winnings or minimize his losses based on the rulesof the game.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one aspect the invention is directed to a method of playing atwo-element casino wagering game. A first element is comprised of atleast one of a Five-Card Stud Poker game and Seven-Card Stud Poker game.A player plays against the dealer in the first element. A second elementcomprises the player playing a side bet based on at least one of thecard game War or Three Card Poker. The player is compensated on one ofthree different pay tables for the side bet game, corresponding to theversion of the two-element casino game being played. The two-elementcasino wagering game is played on a specifically designed playing board,using either a standard deck of 52 physical playing cards, or a deck of52 virtual electronic playing cards to play the two-element casinowagering game.

In an alternative embodiment, a method of playing a casino wagering gamecomprises at least one player initiating the game by placing a wager onan ante area of a specifically designed game board. After the player hascompleted wagering, a dealer hands out one card from a deck of cards tothe player face down and two cards to the dealer with one of the twocards facing up. The player is then allowed to place an additional betor to pass. Three community cards are placed face up by the dealer in aspace between the dealer and the player or multiple players. The playeror multiple players are then allowed to place a wager or pass. Anadditional three community cards are placed by the dealer in the spacewith two being placed face up and one face down. The player or multipleplayers place a wager or fold. If the player or multiple players havewagered, the dealer turns up the last card and the dealer pays theplayer or multiple players if the player's hand is higher, and for theplayers whose hands are lower, the dealer takes the money.

Another aspect involves side bets based on playing a Three Card Pokerhand or one of two variations of the game War.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having briefly described the invention, the same will become betterunderstood from the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top-plan view of the complete board used in the method ofthe invention to play a casino wagering game;

FIG. 2 is a partial top-plan view of the game board of FIG. 1 showingthe board set up for a single player;

FIG. 3 shows a payout table for the second element of the game; and

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps of the game of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The invention will be described herein with reference to FIGS. 1-3.

In accordance with the invention there are three variations to the game.In a first variation, the game is initiated by placing one card on sidebet cards area 21. In the other two variations, two cards are placed onthe side bet cards area 21. From a player's perspective, the goal of thegame is to win either a War element or a Three Card Poker element andend up with a higher conventional five card poker hand than the dealerby using the player's cards and community cards available on the playingsurface. The game is predicated on a player versus house/bank contest.The player is not in contention with any other players.

There are two different elements to the game. A first element is aninitial play determined by one of the following, based on the version ofthe game being played.

-   -   a) A player wins or loses a Three Card Poker hand based on the        rules of Three Card Poker; or    -   b) a player wins or loses a version of War where the player's        card is tied or higher or lower than a single side card; or    -   c) a player wins or loses a version of War where the player's        card is higher or lower, or between two single side cards or        tied with one of the side cards.

A second element is based on conventional Seven Card Poker game, andwith community cards added. In this element, a player wins, loses, orpushes against the house/bank based on having a higher, lower, or equalfive card poker hand to the dealer's using the player's card andcommunity cards.

In order to play the game, the player initiates the game by placing awager on the ante area 25. The player may also enter other bets byelecting to place a wager on the poker bonus and/or side bet cards area21 and/or the poker bet area 23 prior to the dealer handing out anycards. Once the player has completed wagering, the dealer hands out onecard face up to the player, one or two cards face up in the side betcards area 21, and two cards face down to the dealer.

The dealer settles the side bet based on either War or Three Card Pokerrules and removes the side bet cards from the playing area 21.

If a first set of War rules are used, War provides the player with achance to win by either having a higher card than the one in the sidebet cards area 21 or by having a card of equal value to the card in theside bet cards area 21 in the single card version of the War game.

If a second set of War rules are used, the player is provided with achance to win by either having a higher card than the higher of the twoin the side bet cards area 21 or by tying either one or both of thecards in the side bet cards area 21 or by having a card whose value liesbetween the two cards in the two side bet versions.

If Three Card Poker rules are used, the player may win by combining thetwo cards in the side bet cards area 21 with the single card in theplayer's possession. In this case, the player must have a pair or higherpoker hand in order to win.

As the game is played, the player has the option of adding a wager inthe poker bet area 23 of the playing surface that would either match orbe a multiple of the ante. The player may also either pass or fold.Continuing, the dealer places three community cards face up onto theplaying surface into a space between the dealer and the player. Thesecommunity cards are to be used by both the player and the dealer inmaking the best possible conventional five card poker hand. If theplayer has not already placed a bet into the poker bet area 23, theplayer may do so by placing a wager equal to, or a defined multiple of,the ante into the poker bet area 23. The player may also elect to passor fold.

The dealer then places three additional cards adjacent to the originalthree community cards with the first two cards face up and the thirdcard face down. If the player has not yet placed a wager into the pokerbet area 23, the player must place a wager into the poker bet area 23 toproceed. The bet must be an exact amount of the ante. Alternatively, theplayer may elect to fold. The dealer then turns over the last communitycard.

The player then makes the best conventional five card poker handavailable using the player's card and the community cards. Similarly,the dealer makes the best conventional five card poker hand availableusing both of the dealer's cards and the community cards.

The dealer pays the player the ante and the poker bet if the player hasthe better conventional five card poker hand equal to the amount of thebet placed into each area. Alternatively, the dealer collects the anteand the poker bet from the player if the dealer has a betterconventional five card poker hand. The dealer then pays the player anybonus money won. In this case, bonus wins are paid to a playerregardless of win, lose, or push in the five card poker hand element ofthe game if the player's hand plus the community cards qualify. A pushresults when the player and the dealer have equal five card poker hands.In that event, the player retains both the ante and the wager in thepoker bet area 23.

Payouts may be made according to the Pay Table of FIG. 3.

To further understand the flow of the game, reference is made to FIG. 4which illustrates the steps of the game in a self-explanatory manner.

As may be appreciated, while the game can be played on a physical boardwith conventional cards, it is also possible to implement the game, aswill be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, inelectronic form such as for example through electronic devices known tothose of ordinary skill. Examples of such electronic devices include butare not limited to tablets such as those commercially available underthe name iPad, conventional computers connected, for example, through anetwork, in one case the internet, connected to another computer, aserver, a mobile phone, all having displays; or any other kind ofdisplay device with appropriate processing means and circuitry includinga display driver and other conventional devices all readily known tothose of ordinary skill in the art. In such an implementation, programcode, as is well known and conventional, can be designed to behave likea card dealer, a bet generation prompt and/or a prize award calculator.Conventional probability and statistics rules can be promulgatedthroughout the code so that when cards are dispensed by the programmodule emulating a dealer, the cards are dispensed in a manner as theywould have been playing with a conventional deck.

Having thus described the invention, the same will become betterunderstood from the appended claims in which the invention is set forthin a non-limiting manner.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of playing a two element casino wageringgame, comprising: (a) a first element comprising playing at least one ofa five card stud poker game and a seven card stud poker game between aplayer and a dealer; (b) a second element comprising the player playinga side bet game based on at least one of the card game War or Three CardPoker, in which the player is compensated on one of three different paytables for the side bet game corresponding to the version of the twoelement casino game being played; and (c) said two element casinowagering game being played on a specifically designed playing board,using a standard deck of 52 physical playing cards or with a deck of 52virtual electronic playing cards and played on at least one electronicdevice.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing a wager onan ante space of a playing board in order to participate in at least oneof the first element and the second element of the game.
 3. The methodof claim 2, further comprising placing an additional wager on a side betspace of a playing board in order to participate in the second elementof the game.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising placing anadditional wager on a bonus poker space of the playing board for beingawarded any winnings based on a bonus poker pay table.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising placing additional wagers during at leastone of several rounds on a poker bet space on the playing board in orderto win the first element portion of the game.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the dealer distributes one card face up to each player.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the dealer deals one or two cards face upinto the space on the playing board designated for one or more side betcards, depending on which version of the game is being played.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the winning outcome for a version of a sidebet is predicated on a player having a higher valued card or matchingthe value of the single card in a side bet card space and a payout ismade according to a pay table for version.
 9. The method of claim 7,wherein the winning outcome for a version of the side bet is predicatedon a player having a higher valued card than the value of the higher ofthe two cards in a side bet card game, having a card whose value isequal to one or both of the two cards in the side bet card space, orhaving a card whose value can be placed between the values of the twocard; in the side bet card space, and a payout is made according to apay table for the version.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein thewinning outcome for a version of a side bet is predicated on a playerhaving at least one pair using the player's card and the two cards in aside bet space according to a Three Card Poker pay table for theversion.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the dealer deals two cardsface up to the dealer and gives the player an opportunity to place awager into a poker bet space on the playing board.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the dealer places three community cards face up into aspace between the dealer and the player on the playing board.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the dealer provides an opportunity for theplayer to place a wager into the poker bet space on the playing board.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the dealer places three morecommunity cards between the dealer and the player on the playing boardwith the first two cards face up and the third card face down.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the player must either place a wager intothe poker bet space or fold prior to the dealer turning the third cardface up.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the dealer turns the thirdcard face up.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the dealer creates thebest five card poker hand using the dealer's cards and the communitycards.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the dealer determines thebest five card poker hand for the player who did not fold using theplayer's card and the community cards.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the dealer settles the poker bet with the player.
 20. The methodof claim 19, wherein the dealer settles the poker bonus bet regardlessof the outcome of the player versus dealer portion of the first elementas determined by a poker bonus pay table.
 21. A method of playing acasino game, comprising: at least one player placing at least one of apoker ante, and at least one of a poker bonus bet, side card bet, andplay bet; a dealer dealing one card to each of said at least one playerface up, one or two cards to the side bet area face up, and two cards tothe dealer face down; settling the side bets and removing the side betcards; turning the dealer's cards up, and each of the at least oneplayer betting, passing, or folding; dealing three community cards faceup and each of the at least one player betting, passing or folding;dealing three community cards, two face up and one face down, and eachof the at least one player betting or folding; and turning the face downcard face up and settling the bets with each of said at least oneplayer.